Chapter 35: Receiving His First Solo Mission
The Tona twins’ mission was to attend a ceremony.
They were being ordered to attend several events and parties organized by the Vermont emperor and the empire’s dukes to curry favours with them.
In truth, calling this invitation to parties a ‘mission’ was an embarra.s.sment. There was absolutely no risk of them seeing any blood or conflict during this mission. All they had to do was eat the excellent dishes prepared at the parties and have fun in the empire.
“Ugh!”
“A ceremony?! In the Vermont Empire at that…”
However, the Tona twins’ faces crumpled once they heard the details of their mission.
‘Attending ceremonies’ was a type of mission that was only a.s.signed to direct members of the Runcandel lineage.
The clan could ignore invitations and the like from your average nation, but the empire’s invitation was a different story. The Runcandels couldn’t refuse them so easily.
Thus, one of the Runcandel children had to accept the invitation and attend the events.
So whenever an invitation arrived from the Vermont Empire, the Runcandel children prayed to avoid being chosen.
None of them wanted to attend those sickening and boring parties.
“My condolences, boys. Thanks to your sacrifices, your siblings won’t have to go to the empire and dance around aimlessly.”
“Haaaa…”
“Is that a sigh I hear? Although it’s an invitation to parties, this is a bona fide mission. If you show this sort of att.i.tude again, I’ll beat you two up so badly you’ll beg me to kill you.”
The Tona twins nodded as they hid away their disgusted expressions.
This mission was more or less a ‘punishment’ for them. Their elder sisters were punishing them, as they had failed to trample on their youngest sibling even after borrowing a 5-star cadet from their faction.
Attending parties was a drudgery for the twins, as they didn’t have an ounce of oratory skills and hadn’t learnt the subtle art of surviving in social situations.
‘Geez, Elder Sister Myu and Anne are so ill-natured.’
Jin laughed to himself.
“It’s a mission someone has to accomplish. And when you arrive on site, you will see dozens of powerful people, whether it be in their combat prowess or their authority and influence. Make sure you observe them carefully.”
“Understood, Uncle…”
“And you, Jin.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“The mission you’ve been a.s.signed is…”
Zed stopped halfway through the sentence. The Tona twins paid close attention to his next words.
They were curious to know how crazy of a mission their sisters had a.s.signed to their youngest sibling.
Hopefully, it was something that would break Jin physically and mentally. In fact, the best case scenario would be that Jin wouldn’t return at all from the mission.
“An a.s.sa.s.sination task. Your target is the Master of the Hidden Palace Talaris’s plaything. Hm… You basically need to kill a loafer.”
The Master of the Hidden Palace.
That is the t.i.tle given to the owner of the ‘Hidden Palace’, an enormous tower standing in the middle of the west sea. The 51st master is Talaris, nicknamed the ‘Abyssal Spider’.
The Hidden Palace is an independent force that is influenced by neither the Runcandels nor the Zipfels.
“Uncle, by ‘plaything’, you mean…”
“The Abyssal Spider’s plaything? It’s that woman’s lover.”
Jin’s a.s.sa.s.sination target was the master’s plaything.
In other words, her paramour. Jin had to kill one of the countless young men Talaris was playing around with.
“Oh snap.”
The Tona twins unintentionally let out words of shock.
They didn’t believe that Jin would be able to kill the Master of the Hidden Palace’s lover and return alive.
Talaris’s notoriety was known around the world, even to the country b.u.mpkins living in some corner of the Mitel Kingdom. She was especially known for being merciless to the people who laid a finger on her lovers.
“Your target is currently residing in the lawless zone of Mamit under the protection of members of the Hidden Palace.”
“Mamit?!”
“Holy smokes!”
The twins exclaimed out loud once again.
Missions in the Mamit Lawless Zone were generally a.s.signed to guardian knights. It wasn’t a mission that a mere intermediate-cla.s.s cadet like Jin was supposed to undertake.
Killing the Master of the Hidden Palace’s lover in Mamit.
You could easily summarize the mission with that sentence. The Tona twins already believed that Jin would never return alive from this mission.
“There is one question I’d like to ask, Uncle.”
“What is it?”
“Who is our client?”
As Jin asked in a confident tone, Zed’s lips rose into a soft smirk.
‘This kid… He should know who the Master of the Hidden Palace and where Mamit is, but he’s going to accept the mission immediately? If he claimed the mission was irrational, I would’ve been willing to go say a word to the flag-bearers myself.’
Zed was somewhat hoping Jin would be shocked and vexed.
Recently, the elder’s greatest enjoyment was watching his youngest nephew grow. Even the unsympathetic Zed didn’t appreciate sending a yet-to-be-fully-forged sword on a dangerous mission like this where it would most certainly break.
However, Jin didn’t show an ounce of shock or vexation.
Since the cadet in question was planning on accepting the mission, Zed had no reason to intervene.
“The Tzendler Clan. Your target—the loafer—is called Alkaro Tzendler, the disgrace of the clan.”
“I see now. They’re worried that the child who left the clan will spill the clan’s secrets to the Master of the Hidden Palace.”
“Exactly. It seems the Tzendler Clan tried to solve this issue on their own, but gave up and came to us instead. Looks like the child in question doesn’t have a good reputation in the first place… Hm, can you do it?”
Zed asked with great antic.i.p.ation.
He was deeply hoping the words ‘this mission should be a.s.signed to guardian knights instead’ would leave Jin’s mouth.
“I will do it.”
“Why are you so… No, nevermind. Haaa, it’s good to be decisive.”
Zed coughed awkwardly before handing over the doc.u.ments to his nephews.
“You will all depart in two days. You are excused from the afternoon training sessions until then. In the meantime, make sure to train on your own, but only to the extent that it doesn’t hinder your mission.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
Zed exited the hidden training room first.
The Tona twins stood around Jin awkwardly for a while.
While they felt ecstatic by the fact that their brother was about to die, they were also disgruntled by it, as if there was a bitter taste in their mouths. The twins didn’t know that they had a strong bond of love and hatred with their little brother.
“What?”
“No, um… Good luck. Come back safely.”
“Yeah. It’s not like you’re gonna die, right? If something goes wrong, just reveal that you’re a Runcandel! Then no one will be able to lay a finger on you.”
“Haha, geez. Are you worried about me? I didn’t know you two had such adorable sides to you.”
“W-We’re not worried! We—”
“Before I return…”
Jin interrupted Daytona and unsheathed Bradamante, covering it in aura. The twins froze as their brother had suddenly pulled out his weapon.
Swoosh!
Before they could even ask what he was doing, Jin swung his sword, aiming it at the Clear Stone sitting behind them.
Claaaang—!
A beautiful metallic sound resonated, bouncing off the arched ceiling and echoing in the room.
Jin smiled in satisfaction.
He had suddenly felt like he would definitely succeed if he struck the Clear Stone right now, and that feeling turned into reality within a few instants.
One month had pa.s.sed since they began training with the Clear Stones.
Jin had no idea how inconceivable this record was.
“You two should make a choice, Elder Brothers. Whether you prefer our elder sisters… or me.”
The Tona twins gulped audibly before clumsily nodding.
Jin then exited the room, leaving the two of them behind in silence.
“…What do we do?”
“I don’t know. Elder Sisters are out of their minds, while our younger brother is not in his right mind. Seriously… But I think that the youngest is scarier than Elder Sisters…”
“I agree.”
The twins sighed in dejection.
Having made his way outside, Jin wasn’t concerned about his mission. Rather than the dangerous task, his mind was far more interested in another topic.
‘What was that sensation earlier?’
The steel marble that had come flying out of the Clear Stone Haytona had blown up.
After getting hit by it, Jin suddenly pictured the marble’s detailed trajectory in his mind for no reason. It also felt like if another marble came hurling at him from the same direction, he would be able to avoid it.
‘I should ask Elder Sister Luna about this once I return from my mission. This sensation might be related to the training I had been doing with her.’
***
Two days went by in a flash.
Those who had been a.s.signed a mission had finished their preparations yesterday. All that was left to do was to go to the Huphester Transfer Gate and teleport to their respective destinations.
“Phew… Young Master.”
Before he got on the steel carriage, the members of the Youngest Division called out to him.
They were all wearing somber expressions, as if they were a herd of cows being led to a slaughterhouse. No one could guess how many of them would die in their upcoming mission.
However, that wasn’t the only reason they were dejected.
“We heard you’re going to the Mamit Lawless Zone.”
“Indeed. I need to go to the transfer gate separately since I was tasked with an a.s.sa.s.sination mission. I also need to go through all the administrative procedures properly. How annoying.”
“…We’ve come to bid you farewell before departing.”
The reason why the Youngest Division had come to salute him was quite obvious.
This could be the final time they would see the young master. Not only was it likely that some of them would die during their mission in the unprotected area, Young Master Jin himself was tasked with a mission in which he had an 80% chance of dying.
Other than Jin, everyone else in the intermediate cla.s.s thought he was headed to his death.
“No need to. Why, do you think we’ll never see each other again?”
Jin said in a playful tone, to which Mesa sighed deeply. The other cadets couldn’t even lift their heads up properly to face the young master.
“Well, it’s true that life doesn’t always go the way one expects it to. Some of us may die on our mission if we’re ill-fortuned.”
“We’ll be okay. But the mission you were a.s.signed is…”
“Geez, no need to worry about me, you brats. Focus on your own mission only, alright?”
“Yes…”
“Get going, then. We’ll see each other when we’re back.”
The Youngest Division hesitantly stood around before going down the corridor.
“Such endearing kids. Keep them safe, Murakan.”
“Meow~”
“I’ve said this already, but make sure you don’t get seen, alright?”
“Meooow~”
The black cat raised its front paw and waved it, as if he were saying ‘worry more about yourself, kid’.
“I’ll be lonely for a while since both of you are leaving, Young Master, Lord Murakan.”
“Think of it as a break, Gilly. Do you want some souvenirs from Mamit?”
“I know that you’re stronger than intermediate-cla.s.s cadets, Young Master, but please be careful. Mamit is a dangerous place. To think that you have to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Master of the Hidden Palace’s paramour… Please take good care of yourself.”
“Yes. I’ll see you soon!”
Jin didn’t get on the steel carriage, but rather on horseback. He had already dyed his hair brown yesterday and was currently dressed like an ordinary traveler.
The boy had Bradamante with him, but he had covered the blade in a layer of metallic coating to conceal its normal colour. With such a disguise, no one would ever think of him as a Runcandel.
This was his second mission but his first solo mission.
As Gilly had stated, the current Jin was quite a force to be reckoned with if you took all his abilities into account. Even so, the mission was a dangerous one where he could lose his life.
Nevertheless, Jin was fearless. In fact, he was excited about how he’d be able to use spiritual power and magic as much as possible.
‘I’ve always wanted to visit Mamit since my past life.’
Before his regression, Jin’s magic teacher had mentioned that Mamit was more of a ‘romantic city’ than he had expected.
Having spent two years in Mamit, his master would tell fond stories about the city. Within those stories were countless details about the city and its populace.
‘I remember Master saying that the pubs in the center of the city are locations where informers and spies often go. And if I want to buy high-cla.s.s information, I need to head to the underground black market…’
To think that his master’s boring stories would come in handy like this. Of course, there was a difference in time period, so some of the information may be inaccurate for now. But the system and order within the city was unlikely to have changed.
With a feeling of grat.i.tude towards his master in his heart, Jin pulled on the horse’s reins and began his journey.
A refreshing sense of liberty rushed through him as he departed the Garden of Swords on his own.
Translator’s Section:
Jin’s off on his first solo journey~!! Can’t wait to see what happens~
Also, the moron twins are starting to grow on me. They’re like cute little idiots hahaha. I hope they get redeemed and become allies Jin can trust.